DPS bucks trend with increases in staff and sales

KRISTY DORSEY

AN ENGINEERING firm has defied the looming loss of one of its major customers with an increase in both headcount and sales.

Fife-based DPS Group created 22 jobs in the first six months of this year, including four apprentice and graduate positions.

The new posts have increased its permanent workforce by 30 per cent to more than 60 people, with a further 120 contract positions.

The company is also anticipating a 20 per cent increase in turnover for the year that ended in May, which is expected to come in at about £10 million when final figures are confirmed.

DPS is facing the loss of a seven-figure contract at nearby Longannet, where its electrical instruments are used to control industrial processes.

ScottishPower will shut down the coal-fired power station by March of next year, having lost out on a vital electricity supply contract with National Grid.

But the engineer has counter-acted with expansion into new sectors, and has also appointed its first business development manager, Grant Buchanan.

The company picked up an important new customer earlier this year when CelluComp – which turns root vegetables into material for a range of products – opened its bio- refinery in Glenrothes.

DPS technology helps run the facility, which has been described as “ground-breaking”.

Martin Brownlee, group dir­ector at DPS, said: “This year we’ve appointed to roles at all levels within our business, and it’s particularly pleasing to be able to report that we’re continuing to grow our apprentice and graduate programme.”